Wednesday, December 21, 2011

This tutorial works only for HP laptop (applicable to desktop if has WiFi and/or bluetooth).

My company gives (almost) everyone in the company a laptop each for work purpose (of course you have to return the laptop if you resign). Since the IT department has concern about the security of the laptops, they will not using the default setup (OS and programs/software) that come together with the laptop. They will format and re-install OS, and programs/software that custom made to the company. Too bad that this IT department always left out some software that I think is useful. They might do it on purpose since the Windows already has the default programs.

The work laptop I am having right is a HP EliteBook 8460p. The only HP program the IT department installed for me is HP HotKey Support, which is required to works with the function keys on this laptop.

However, there is no connection manager being installed. Whenever I press the "Wireless" button , it will turn on both bluetooth and WiFi at same time, which I don't want it that way all the time. Wifi and bluetooth will draw power from the battery. I want to preserve some battery juice if possible. Sometime I want to sync my smartphone with the laptop through bluetooth, so I don't need the WiFi.

After some research at HP website, I found out there are a few HP Connection Manager. I chosen the one the labeled "HP Connection Manager - Power Only mode" because all I want is to control the power of WiFi and BlueTooth.

Here is the direct link the page to download the setup file:HP connection manager link
This program should works for all current HP laptop models and OS supported are from Windows XP to Windows 7.

After installation, I can find the HP Connection Manager icon on the taskbar notification area.
This is the icon.

Right click on the icon will bring up the Connection Manager, click on the button to turn on/off Wifi and/or BlueTooth. In this picture, I turn on Wifi, but turn off BlueTooth. I also have the option to turn on Airplane mode which actually turn off both WiFi and BlueTooth.

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source: I wrote this!